You could say 'It's complicated'
by Izumine Kisamine
Summary: Is this really what they want or only what they need? Are they in it for the long haul, or just for the satisfaction? It's all just a little confusing and emotional for Tony Stark and Loki Laufeyson, not to mention their respective others. (Thorki, Stony, eventual frostiron)
1. Relative freedom

_**Yes, I'm still alive! I don't think I've uploaded anything up here for a good year or so… And you may have noticed a slight genre change… But, it's still slash, yaoi, bl, whatever you wanna call it~ So, I hope you enjoy my latest offering!**_

_**Thor x Loki, Steve x Tony, Loki x Tony… Ship all the pairings!**_

_**Set after Avengers and just before the start of The Dark World.**_

_**((Also, just wanna take this moment to say that any of my other stories that are still marked as 'in progress' probably won't ever get finished… So… Sorry… I don't think there are that many of them but… Y'know~))**_

_**~X~X~X~X~X~X~  
**_

"No, father, please!" Thor burst into the Allfather's throne room, all too aware that what he was about to do could potentially cost him dearly. "Please, do not send Loki down into the dungeons!" Everyone present turned to look to the far end of the room as Thor ran down to them; Odin, Loki and even the guards that were holding Loki's restraints looked to see who was causing such a commotion.  
"Son, what is the meaning of this?" His father's voice echoed through the chamber. He was clearly agitated by the intrusion, as well as slightly confused.  
There was a short silence as the god of thunder quickly approached and then skidded to a halt to stand beside the guards that crowded around his brother.  
"I am asking you to reconsider my brother's punishment." Thor explained, not breaking eye contact with Odin. "I understand that what he has done is truly terrible and that many of innocent people lost their lives. It is true that he destroyed half of a city-"  
"And where exactly are you going with this?" Loki cut in. He received a glare from both Odin and Thor, and they both told him that his interruptions were not welcome. The trickster hesitated, and then turned his attention back to the floor. Odin glared at him for a second, before turning back to Thor with a look that said he was free to continue.

"It is true that he destroyed half of a city," he repeated, "but I can promise you that he did not mean to cause such havoc upon Midgard. Everything that he did, he only did in order to protect himself. He was only there to… To retrieve the tesseract. He realised that it truly belonged here in Asgard, where it would be safe, and so he went to retrieve it. For you. People on Earth did not understand his mission, and tried to hunt him down."  
Loki looked on confused. Both Thor and himself knew that absolutely none of what Thor was saying was true, and yet he was spilling these words with such conviction, and his ever honest expression that any outsider would be convinced. Although Loki couldn't deny he was impressed, he still wasn't sure what Thor's lies were in aid of. However, anything that would allow him a ticket out of imprisonment couldn't be a bad thing, so he watched on quietly.  
"So you are saying that I should allow him freedom because his intentions were good?" Odin questioned. He didn't sound too convinced by Thor's story, and was constantly glancing between the two brothers, eyeing Loki up and down.  
"I am not saying that, father. I am merely suggesting that he should not be judged so harshly."  
"Then what do you propose we do with him?" Odin's eyebrow twitched.  
Thor took a deep breath before he spoke. "May I suggest that we keep him within the castle grounds, under watch at every second."  
"So he can escape once more? I think not!"  
"No, father, I will volunteer to guard him. You know that I can best him in a fight any day."  
The king hesitated. "And what of his magic? You are no match for him in that respect."  
"Have mother restrict his powers in some way. I am sure there must be something she can do to take away his strength."

And with that suggestion, Odin seemed to seriously consider the idea of simply keeping Loki under house arrest. There was a minute of agonizing silence before their father spoke again. "You." He turned to Loki, addressing him directly for the first time since his arrival. "I will not commit you to the dungeons." A brief smile of hope flickered across Loki's face, before he regained control and set his expression back to the cool, calm one that he was well known for. "However," Odin continued, "You shall be confined to the grounds of the castle, and you must stay within your brother's sights at all times. If he has to leave, then you shall be placed in a dungeon cell and guarded until his return. Frigga shall bind your magic, restricting you to only the most simple of illusions and spells."  
Loki couldn't believe that he was going to get away with this. And all thanks to his goody-two-shoes brother. That was just peculiar, but he wasn't about to complain. "And Loki, one wrong move, and I will not stop the guards if they see fit to kill you."

There was silence as Loki considered the pros and cons of this new arrangement. He quickly came to his conclusion. He looked up to his father, and with the sweetest smile he could muster, he said; "I promise, I'll be a good boy." For a split second, it seemed like Loki's response caused Odin to waver in his decision, but he didn't say anything else. He nodded to the guards, signalling for them to take away the chain's from around Loki's wrists and neck, and then exited the room. On his way past, he mouthed to Thor for him to visit later. The guards followed after him when they had released the god of mischief from his constraints, leaving the two brothers alone in the vast room.  
"So, just a… Quick question, really." Loki began, rubbing his aching wrists as he turned to face Thor, "When exactly did you go insane?"  
"I just saved you from the dungeons did I not?" Thor retorted with twitch of his head.  
"I wasn't complaining. I was simply curious." Loki smiled. "So, it appears that you are saddled with me for the time being; what shall we do first?"

Thor did not respond, he simply turned on his heel and made his way back to the doors at the far end of the room. Loki watched for a second, and then hurried after. He was about to speak, when his brother beat him to it. "We are headed to my chamber. Please, do not talk to me until we arrive."  
"Alright then." Loki nodded. He was still confused by his current situation, but he was – although he would hate to admit it - grateful to Thor. The restriction to his magic would be a pain, undoubtedly, but he figured that it was a small price to pay for his 'freedom'.  
Thankfully, Thor's chamber wasn't far from the throne room, and they were there in a matter of minutes. Thor ushered Loki into the room, and then shut the door firmly behind himself, being sure to lock it, something he never usually resorted to. Loki noted this behaviour, and in a matter of second, he convinced himself that he was about to get stabbed, or at the very least punched somewhere excruciatingly painful. He sat himself down on his brother's bed, and started thinking aloud.

"So, your plan is to what? Kill me in the privacy of your own chamber and be done with this wretched business? Punch yourself in the face and accuse me of trying to break out? Make it- actually, wait, please, do that second one."  
Thor didn't say a word. He slowly walked from the door over to his bed, and stood over Loki. His expression was blank, for the most part, but there was a hint of what Loki thought could be disapproval.  
"You said I could talk once we arrived, did you not?"  
Still, Thor remained silent. He shifter around to beside Loki, and sat himself down on the bed. "Brother?" Loki was beginning to become concerned with Thor's behaviour. "Thor!" He laughed nervously, "Please, if you're going to kill me, just get on with it."  
"I am not going to kill you, Loki." Thor sighed.  
"…Then, what?" Although Thor was speaking again, Loki felt no more at ease.

There was another second of silence, and then, Thor began to lean in closer to his brother, cupping one hand around the side of Loki's head, stroking the liesmith's jet-black hair with his thumb absentmindedly. Loki was about to speak out, but when he opened his mouth, he found that words didn't want to cooperate with him, so he clamped his mouth shut once more and watched on as his brother came closer, until their foreheads were touching. There was a strange tension in the air between them. It was almost electric, if still slightly awkward.  
"Brother, I know that what you did was wrong. But I could not stand idly by while father committed you to a life of imprisonment. The thought of... of never seeing you again... It tears me up inside." Thor's voice was little more than a whisper. He drew himself closer, until his lips brushed across Loki's.  
The god of mischief jumped back at the contact, but found that Thor's other hand had moved up behind his head, and stopped him from moving any further. As Thor let his lips linger on Loki's for a second, slightly longer kiss, the adopted brother gave in to the warmth. He had never experienced contact like this with another being before, and it was comforting. He may not have totally understood the purposes behind his brother's actions, but it brought him a strange sense of fulfilment and wholeness. He knew that someone actually wanted him. That was all he had wanted his entire life, and it was right here in front of him; his life's goal was right there in his grasp, even if this wasn't exactly what he had in mind.

After a brief hesitation, Loki brought himself forward, until he was all but sat in his brother's lap. He snaked his arms up and around Thor's neck, resting one hand on his muscular shoulder, the other tangling itself through seemingly endless locks of silky golden hair. He let his eyes slide shut as he finally returned the gesture, and pushed his pale lips back against Thor's. There was a muffled sound of surprise from the god of thunder, but he quickly regained himself and kissed back.  
He leaned forward more, dominating over his brother, as ever, and eventually forced Loki to fall back onto the mattress with a soft 'oof'. Thor thought the sound was adorable, and smiled softly as he swung a leg over his brother and straddled him. He leant back to allow Loki to get comfortable, resting back on his haunches. He watched on with a contented smile as his brother pulled himself up and supported himself on his elbows.  
"You have recently received a hard blow to the head, haven't you?" Loki smiled, looking up at his brother with playfully sparkling emerald eyes. It was a look that Thor wasn't familiar with, but it was enchanting to him. It had been too long since he had seen Loki truly happy. It gave Thor strange feelings that he wasn't familiar with, but they were good feelings, he knew that much. They were similar to the kind of emotions he had felt when in the presence of Jane Foster, only they were so much stronger, and were actually causing him to act on them.

"I have not." He smiled, allowing himself to fall forward. He set his hands either side of Loki's shoulders. He shifted his weight onto his left hand, and lifted his right hand to the mischief maker's pale cheek. "This is something I have desired for a long time."  
"Then... You were dropped on your head at birth?" Loki smirked, "Because that would explain a lot."  
Thor had never been so amused by Loki's insults, but talking was not what the god of thunder wanted to hear at that moment. Before Loki could form any more words in his head, Thor dropped down and brought their lips together again, into a more passionate kiss. Loki let out a startled moan, then went along with it anyway. He desperately leant after Thor when he pulled away, and whimpered. He looked up into Thor's large blue puppy dog eyes with need in his own, and he pulled his brother back down with a gentle nudge on the back of his head. He moaned as he let his mouth slip open, allowing his brother to venture deeper.

The two barely separated for air as they started to shed their clothes, throwing the garments carelessly to the floor. In minutes, they were shirtless, breathless and panting lightly. "Th-thor..." Loki could only just manage to get out the word. His voice was breathy, but Thor did manage to hear him over the sound of his own breathing. The thunder god looked down into Loki's eyes, and waited for him to speak. "What... Why are we doing this? Why are _you_ doing this?" There was silence between them as they shared a long look with one another.  
"Brother. You were so concerned with becoming father's favourite, that you failed to notice you are clearly my favourite."

Upon hearing his brother effectively confess his love for him, Loki found a strange lump forming in his throat, and his eyes tearing up. "Brother-" He started, but apparently, Thor wasn't finished.  
"I have admired you since we were children. You are skilled with your tricks and illusions, you are strong mentally in ways I could never be, and you are charming and attractive. I have never wanted anybody the way I want you." With a soft smile, Thor leant in and placed a soft kiss on Loki's forehead, while the god of mischief took the time to gather himself. The last thing he wanted to do was have an emotional breakdown. Thor slowly moved his gentle kisses from Loki's lips to his collar bone, then further down. His puppy dog eyes that were usually filled with such innocence were suddenly sparkling with a new, predatory glint. It worried Loki, as he had never seen this look before, but at the same time, it was insanely exciting, and his breathing sped up at a worrying rate.  
It got worse when he looked down to see Thor nuzzling at the top of his trousers. This entire affair had been running on instinct up until then, but when the blonde looked up to his brother to see that he was alright with proceeding, Loki realised just what it was they were about to do. The reality of the situation hit him. Not to mention the insanity of it all. To think that they had been each other's sworn enemies for months, and now, apparently, they were lovers, or something similar. After a moment of quiet thought, Loki decided.

He pulled himself up to sit against the headboard. Thor looked put out, but he had known that things had been going too smoothly. He sat down on the mattress where Loki's legs had been before he had drawn them up to his chest. "Brother. What is it?" The innocence had returned to his crystal blue eyes, and Loki had to look away to avoid that ever imminent breakdown. He hid his face between his knees and spoke down into his legs.  
"This doesn't make sense, brother. You hate me!" He snapped his head up to glare at the blonde sitting at the end of the bed. "And now you are telling me that you love me, and that you truly care! What were the last years to you? Because to me, they clearly show me that everything you are trying to tell me now is nothing but a lie! Do you not think I have been fed enough lies in my lifetime?"  
Thor looked truly hurt at his brother's sudden rage. He knew that Loki was volatile at the best of times, and he understood that this must be confusing for him, because lord knows it was still tough for him to get his mind around. Thor moved himself up to the top of the bed to sit just in front and to the side of his brother. After a second of hesitation, he rested a hand on Loki's knee.  
"Please, Loki, believe me when I say that I understand your confusion. But, I want you to know that all that time I spent at your throat, I only did that to please father. I am torn here, between my duty and my heart. But, everything I have said to you in this room tonight is the truth." Loki was still thinking. "I want nothing more than to make you my king. To treat you the way you deserve to be treated. You will have to atone for your crimes on Earth, but I believe that you deserve kindness. Your childhood was cruel to you. I want to make that right." Thor tightened his grip reassuringly on his brother's knee, as he was still avoiding eye contact.

"And why should I believe you?" The liesmith grunted, glaring hard at the wall on the far side of the room. Thor sighed, with a soft smile playing on his lips. He slipped a strong hand under Loki's chin and gently forced the paler man to look him in the eye.  
"I can show you." And without another word, he leant in and planted a kiss on Loki's lips. In an instant, the god of mischief melted. All his thoughts of running from the room or throwing Thor to the floor vanished from his mind. His concerns disappeared. The only thing he could think of now was the warmth of his brother's body and just how much he needed it. He collapsed back down onto the bed and let Thor sit back on top of him.

"Thank you, Thor." He whispered as his lithe fingers tangled themselves through the mess of golden hair. "Thank you."

_**~X~X~X~X~X~X~**_

_**So, there's that! I know Thor's explanation as to why Loki destroyed New York is pretty bad, but that's kinda the best I could do.**_

_**So, brace yourself for the next chapter folks! I'm really feeling this story, and with it being summer, I have the time to sit down and get some writing done! It's great!**_

_**I'll be waiting for you!**_


	2. Long night in

_**Chapter two! Welcome, everyone! Hope you all enjoyed the first instalment, and if you didn't, then I can only wonder why you're here…**_

_**Anyway, Another chapter, another pairing. Brace yourselves for the Stony! See you on the other side!**_

_**~X~X~X~X~X~X~  
**_

"So, New York'll survive?" Tony yawned, trying to send not-so-subtle messages to the rest of the Avengers that he was bored of this meeting. The group were gathered around the low coffee table in the common room at the top of Stark Tower. Although some of the room was still being reconstructed after a visit from a certain god of thunder's brother, most of it was stable, or at least, that's what Jarvis had said when he gave Tony a structural report.  
"Yeah. Fury just says to make sure we're alert for the next few days, just in case Loki decides to try again." Clint sighed, letting his head fall onto the back of the sofa that Natasha and he were slumped on.  
Doctor Banner laughed a quiet, exhausted laugh, shaking his head. "Come on, he may be criminally insane, but I doubt he'd come back here for a while."  
"Agreed!" Tony exclaimed. He heaved himself up from his chair, grabbed the nearly empty coke can from the table, took a swig and exited the room, calling out after himself; "If anyone needs me, I'll be in the workshop. So, y'know, try not to need me."  
Everyone stared after the billionaire, even though they were used to Tony's strange ways, it was still hard for them to get used to the idea that he could be such a dedicated superhero when he never stayed for any briefings, never listened, and had only just learnt how to play with others.  
Eventually, though, everyone turned back to what was left of the meeting, which was basically congratulating everyone on a job well done. One person stayed staring after Stark for a minute or two longer, though. Steve Rogers kept his eyes on the doorway Tony had left through. Not in any hope that he would come back, but just because he was thinking. He wouldn't deny it would be nice if Tony came back, but he was content with simply mulling things over in his mind while the others closed up the meeting and went their separate ways for the day.

Down in the startlingly white workshop on a lower level of the tower, Stark was beavering away at some blueprint or another; recently they had all been blurring into one blue and white mess. He wouldn't say he was distracted, but of course, he never would, not even to Pepper. Something was just feeling a little out of place. However, he figured that he could deal with it, so he tried to concentrate on the blueprints in front of him, which turned out to be some new arrow designs for Clint, some new aerodynamic tweaks he wanted to be made.  
He persisted for a good few minutes, before it became clear to him that he simply couldn't focus any longer.  
"Ugh…" He sighed, letting his head fall onto the work surface with a dull thud. "I'll blame being thrown out a window. That's bound to have killed a couple of brain cells." He sat up again and slammed the palms of his hands into his forehead in an attempt to massage that niggling headache away. "Jarvis, can you order in some pizza or something? It's gonna be a long night."  
"Of course, sir."  
"Oh, and, Jarvis," Tony looked over his shoulder, as if he was talking to a real person, "ask if the others want anything. It's on me."  
"Of course, sir." The A.I repeated, before leaving the room in silence. Seeing as food would be arriving soon, the self-confessed playboy didn't see much point in starting any work. He was an expert excuse maker. Professional, almost. So, he leant back in his chair with a contented sigh. Even though he still had a strange feeling in the very bottom of his gut, he felt a little better now there was a promise of food and a lack of work.  
"Sir." Jarvis' voice interrupted Tony's train of thought, sending it off a cliff, never to be retrieved. It startled him a little, but he regained himself and waited for Jarvis to continue. "Captain Rogers is here to see you." Tony pulled a confused face to himself, before turning to the glass panel that acted as a door, and saw that Steve was indeed stood outside. The Captain noticed that Tony was looking, and sent the billionaire a lopsided smile and a friendly wave. Tony laughed silently to himself, and instructed Jarvis to open the door.

"Captain." He greeted the blonde as he stood from his desk and shoved his hand into his pockets.  
"Stark." Rogers reciprocated, with a short nod of his head. There was a brief moment of silence as both men looked to the floor, waiting for the other to say something. "Are you alright?" Steve began.  
"Uh. Sure."  
"It's just, earlier, you abandoned our meeting."  
Tony smiled, then looked up to Steve. "I don't know if you've realised this, Cap, but I do make a habit of sulking of to the lab and not surfacing for days on end. I'm fifty-six percent sure I'm really still a teenager."  
"That so? You don't look like one." Rogers laughed.  
"I beg to differ. I mean, look at this physique!" Tony stood up to his full height and pulled his hands from his pocket. "I am in my prime!"  
The Captain took a few slow steps forwards, towards Stark. "I can agree with you there." He smiled, and appeared to take a second to truly look Tony up and down.  
"And now I return the favour; you alright over there, Cap?" A small smile flickered across Tony's face before he became genuinely worried. Steve didn't move, and kept his eyes fixed on Stark.  
"Me? Yeah, I'm... Fine..." Steve sighed, slouching a little.  
"Don't quit your day job, Cap. Acting's not for you. What's up?" Tony crossed his arms across his chest and leant against his desk.  
The captain pulled an interesting face at the floor, making it look like he was confused by his boot, then looked up to Tony again, his expression softening. "Tony, now that Loki has been taken back to Asgard, we... Don't have anything to worry about, do we?"  
Tony shrugged. "Guess not. Besides from ever present threats of your average criminals. And anyone coming after any of us personally - there are always people coming after my empire - the millions of beasties that have a bone to pick with SHIELD, and let's not put it past Loki to put in another appearance." He finally stopped to take a breath, and looked up to Steve, who was nodding gently in agreement.

"Well, apart from all that, we're not on red alert anymore." Steve laughed. Tony noted that it wasn't the Captain's usual laugh, which was quietly confident. No. This one was just quiet.  
'Is he nervous?' Stark wondered to himself. He could only hope that his thoughts weren't showing on his face. "Alright," The brunette sighed, "So, where were you going with this? We're safe now… And what?" His eyebrow twitched upwards, emphasizing his question.  
Steve squirmed a little, and without breaking eye contact with the floor, he replied in little more than a whisper.  
"Well, I was wondering… If, now there are no, uh, major distractions, we could um…" Tony didn't know whether to find the Captain looking so embarrassed cute or weird, but either way it was out of the norm.  
"Come on, Rogers." Stark urged. He wasn't the most empathetic person on the planet, but watching Steve struggle was a little sad, and he tried to put the poor guy out of his misery. "Just say it."

Apparently, what Steve was trying to get at wasn't something that he could say. He kept quiet as he nervously stepped forward, closing the distance between the two of them until they were inches apart. Tony thought it was weird, but that was all he ever got while he was around the other Avengers, so he went with it. But, when he felt a hand on the back of his head, he started to panic a little. When Cap leant in close so their foreheads were touching and their breath was mixing in the small space in front of him, he started to panic a lot. Then, when he felt Rogers' lips brush across his own, he was close to bolting from the room there and then.  
Steve backed off, pulling his head back so he could look Tony in the eye, not that Stark knew where to look just then. The brunette cleared his throat, then after a second of careful thought, he looked into Roger's eyes and smiled that crooked smile of his.  
"I thought I caught you checking me out the other day." He smirked.  
His reaction wasn't exactly what Steve had been expecting. "What... You mean, you're not... You're okay with this?" He stuttered, leaning back a little further.  
Tony pulled a face to accompany his casual shrug. "I can't say it's what I was daydreaming about over my cereal this morning but... Can't be a bad idea, right?" He finished with a cheeky grin, and rested his hands on the Captain's hips.

If Tony was honest with himself, which he rarely was, he would have to admit to finding Steve charming. The way he was so childishly fascinated by even the simplest of modern technology probably had something to do with that, but either way, somewhere deep down, he could admit to being a little attracted to Rogers. And then, if he was even more honest with himself, Tony was desperate for some kind of contact. It had been a long time, and he was starting to get cranky; he never usually had to wait for too long to sleep with someone - He was Tony Stark, after all - And with the Avengers around, Pepper had politely ducked out for a while, leaving Tony high and dry. He wondered for a second if it was possible for people to experience withdrawal from sex. No, inappropriate thoughts. He mentally slapped himself, and turned his attention back to the man in front of him. He took a deep breath and craned his neck up. Damn, Cap was tall.  
"Wanna try it again?" He hummed into the crook of the blonde's neck. Rogers made a noise that Tony could only interpret to be an affirmative, and so he threw his arms around Cap's neck and pulled himself up as close as he could get to Rogers' lips.  
He brushed his lips over Steve's before taking the plunge and pressing them tightly together. There was a second of hesitation before Steve dared to kiss back, his hands finding their way up to Tony's back, where they gently pressed the brunette forward.

Tony couldn't control his hands as they threaded themselves through the Captain's golden hair. He smiled into the kiss as he realised that he was almost enjoying it. The movement caused Steve to back off, that and the fact he needed to breathe.  
"And... You're sure you're alright with this?"  
Tony hugged the blonde tight. "Of course." He sighed, "I wouldn't still be here if I wasn't, right?" And before Steve could get out a reply, the billionaire locked lips with him again. It caught Rogers by surprise, and he didn't have a chance to close his mouth properly. Tony noted this, and with an evil glint in his eye, he let his tongue 'accidentally' slip further into Cap's mouth.

Captain America himself melted at the sensation, and spun Tony around, leaning him on the desk he had been working at, and although Tony wasn't necessarily used to being so submissive, he could see it having its upsides. He allowed his hands to wander up under the Captain's shirt and stroke at the sensitive skin at the base of his back.  
"Sir, your dinner has arrived. The others are waiting for you in the common room." Jarvis' voice broke the relative silence, cutting over the sounds of short breaths and muffled moans. The two men separated, and Tony let his head fall back in exasperation. His A.I sure had timing.  
"Yeah, alright, Jarv." He grunted, squirming out from underneath Steve. "We should go." He smiled, already halfway to the door. He smiled over his shoulder and beckoned for the blonde to follow. Like an obedient dog, Rogers followed, hurrying after to make it to Tony's side before he started up the stairs.

When the pair arrived in the common area, Clint and Natasha were still slumped on the couch, while Bruce was in the kitchen setting out drinks. He noticed the pair arrive and smiled over to them. He held up a glass to them as a way of asking if either of them wanted a drink. Steve held up his hand with a brief shake of the head. Tony, on the other hand, called for a scotch. Bruce nodded with a smile and set about pouring Tony his drink.  
Stark and Rogers sat themselves down on the couch opposite Clint and Nat. Tony seemed perfectly normal, as though nothing had happened, but Rogers was having a little more trouble keeping himself in check. He was suddenly painfully self-conscious about his facial expressions. After a minute or so, he managed to calm himself down and stopped worrying so much. The friendly grin and sideways glance from Stark helped.  
Bruce made his way from the kitchen and set Stark's drink down on the table, between the mess of pizza boxes. "Thanks for dinner, Tony." He sighed as he sat down in a chair at the end of the coffee table. Noises of agreement came from the other side of the table, where the two agents had already started stuffing pizza into their faces.  
"Nah. I was hungry, and apparently, social convention dictates that I at least offer to share." He reached out to the table and scooped himself up a slice, scattered with something that was probably supposed to be meat. "I didn't miss anything, did I?" Stark asked through a mouthful of pizza. "After I left that what-you-laughingly-called-a meeting?"  
Bruce rolled his eyes. "No. You didn't miss anything." He replied with a soft smile. Dr Banner was probably the only person on the face of the planet who could easily tolerate Tony's attitude. It was ironic, really. Tony nodded.  
"So, what took you so long down there, Rogers?" Clint sat up to take another slice of pizza as he asked his question.  
Steve tensed. What was he supposed to say? He was only supposed to go down and ask Tony if he was alright, but he had been down there longer than he had anticipated, for... Reasons.

Luckily, there was someone in the room with him who was fighting on his side. "We just got talking is all… You know how it is; guy from the dark ages in a room full of shiny robots."  
Everyone else nodded, and seemed to take the explanation that Stark offered them, which helped to calm down Steve's nerves. He relaxed back into his seat after taking a lice of pizza for himself and smiled.  
It didn't take long for their dinner to be vacuumed up. Soon, all that was left was a few stray bits of cheese which were deemed to stringy for human consumption and the odd crust. Bruce disappeared of to his lab on a lower level to potter around before bed, and Clint and Natasha fell asleep where they were on the couch. That lest Tony and Steve all alone. It wasn't an awkward silence they were sat in, but it was mildly uncomfortable.  
The first to speak naturally, was Stark, who was really beginning to feel the effects of his withdrawal. "So…" He swilled around the remains of a scotch in his glass. "You wanna pick up where we left off?"  
At first, Steve was a little surprised, but his expression soon softened and he nodded, still a little nervous. Stark didn't stop the grin from filling his face a he sprang from the couch, grabbed Rogers' hand and dragged him off to his bedroom.

Steve hadn't expected Tony to be so accepting. Then again, he didn't know just how far the man would go just to get laid.

_**~X~X~X~X~X~X~**_

_**Another chapter~ This one was really hard to get though… I miss Loki… He's really fun to write and without him, I found myself getting stuck a lot.**_

I never knew I could write decently long chapters… Whoa… I'm gonna go take a lie down. See you all next chapter!


	3. A mother's charity

_**Well, good day to you. Welcome to chapter three, where it's back off to Asgard for a while! As always, enjoy!  
Also, while I'm here, I wanna just say thank you to everyone who is following this story already, it means a lot to me!**_

_**~X~X~X~X~X~X~**_

The warm light of morning streaked through the gaps in the curtain on the far wall in front of the elegant balcony. Sounds were already drifting in to the room from the courtyard below; some warriors starting their early morning training, children running around them, playing their games of imagination, and crowds of adults catching up on anything they may have missed the previous night. Loki's sensitive ears picked up on the medley of sound coming from outside, and brought him up from his light slumber. His emerald eyes flickered open, only to clamp shut again in an attempt to block out the light of day. He moaned, yawned, and then slowly opened his eyes again, allowing them to adjust to the light.  
Only then did he realise his surroundings. This wasn't his room, and it certainly wasn't the dungeon cell he had been expecting, however, this room was familiar to him. He was laying on his side, with his left arm tucked under his head and his right lying limp across his body. He could feel something under right hand that wasn't his own body. He stroked it gently, realising that it was skin. A hand. A large, strong hand. Loki's brow furrowed in confusion, and he struggled to spin himself around onto his back. Once he finally managed it, he wished that he had stayed on his side.  
He saw Thor, sound asleep and snoring lightly, with his arms wrapped around Loki's waist. There were even the slightest traces of a smile present on his lips.  
Slowly, the events of the previous day started to drip back into the liesmith's head. It was slow t first, but soon it all came back to him at once, and made the god feel rather lightheaded.

He had slept with his brother.

It made him feel ill on some levels. He had no problem with the fact that Thor was also a man, or even the fact that they were brothers – not that they were any blood relation. His problem was with the fact that he had been that desperate for affection he had lowered himself to Thor's level; he could do so much better than that dull oaf. On other levels, it gave him strange butterfly feelings in his gut. He remembered how, if even for one second, he knew that he was the center of Thor's world, the only thing that he could think about.  
On the whole, the experience had left the god thoroughly confused.  
"Thor." He sighed, jabbing the thunder god in the forehead with a slender finger. "Thor, wake up." He commanded, louder this time.  
There was a moment's delay before the blonde stirred, groaning as he shifted his weight.  
"What is it, brother?" He mumbled, pulling his left arm out from underneath Loki and rubbing his forehead with his newly free hand.  
"You do remember what happened last night?" Loki questioned.  
Thor laughed tiredly. "Of course I remember."

He sounded so calm. It threw Loki. The very idea that his goody-two-shoes brother would be fine with sleeping him, especially after what he had done to New York, was enough to make Loki's brain ache. "You remember. And it does not concern you?"  
"Not at all, brother." Thor smiled, and nudged closer to Loki, snaking an arm in behind the mischief-maker's head. "As long as nobody knows of what happened here last night, we will be fine."  
'There it is.' Loki thought to himself. Of course it would have to be a secret; that's much more like the Thor he knew. "Fine." Loki sighed. Unconsciously, he snuggled into his brother's chest, pulling up the bed sheet a little further. Thor smiled softly and wrapped a thin strand of Loki's jet-black hair around one finger, stroking it with his thumb.  
"Of course, that means I need your word that you will not tell anyone."  
Loki scoffed. "Why would I tell anyone that I allowed you of all people to violate me in such a way?"  
"Then we are agreed." Thor nodded, mostly to himself, as he continued stroking Loki's hair.  
Loki hesitated for a moment, and then asked "And this is the only reason you talked Odin out of throwing me into he dungeon to rot?" He was simply curious.  
"Not entirely." Thor pulled his brother close and took both of the trickster's pale hands in his own. "I also believe that my brother is still in there. You were a good man, Loki. Difficult, yes, but your intentions were always good. I could always depend on you for help. I know that person is still there, under your anger and hatred. And that person does not deserve to be punished for what the body he lies dormant in did while he sleeps."

There was silence as Loki looked into Thor's eyes. He could feel tears welling up behind his eyes, something which he had not experienced in a long while. He could tell that his brother's words were from the heart. He blinked hard to stop the tears before they spilled out onto his cheeks. He didn't reply, though. Instead, he glared death at his brother and turned his back on him, lying down again and yanking the cover up to just under his nose. The room fell into a relative quiet, and they both stayed this way for a few minutes.

Then, out of nowhere, there was a strange clicking sound coming from the direction of the door. Both men turned to look at it, but only Loki realised what was happening. Someone was using magic to unlock the door from the outside. "You might want to find some clothes, brother." He smiled, slipping out of Thor's grasp and sitting himself up against the headboard.

The blonde looked at Loki in confusion, and was about to ask what he meant when the door handle twitched and the door itself slowly swung open, revealing Frigga crouched down on the other side of the threshold. The woman got up to her feet and slowly entered the room, not once taking her eyes from her two sons. She remained silent until she reached the center of the room. Thor sat up slowly, and went to try to explain the situation when his mother cut him off.  
"Boys… What is this?" Her voice was calm and patient as ever, but there was something in her expression that told the two men she was upset, or maybe angry.  
Loki, feeling in a particularly mischievous mood, spoke up in response to Frigga.  
"If it looks like Thor and I slept together, that's probably because we did." A sly grin flashed across his pale features as he relaxed against the headboard to watch the chaos he undoubtedly just created. Thor shot Loki a scolding look, but it didn't wipe the playful smirk from the younger brother's pale lips.

"Mother? Wh-what are you doing here?" Thor stuttered. He went to step out of the bed, but realised at the last moment that he wasn't wearing anything, and so he stayed put.  
"You were supposed to visit your father last night, but you didn't show up, so I have come here to take away your brother's powers." She swallowed hard, still trying to take in the scene that she had walked in to. There was a moment of tense silence, before the queen slowly walked over to the bed and perched herself on the edge of the bed, close to Loki. She held out her hands, and waited for her adopted son to place his own hands on top. After a second of hesitation and a short, worried look, he complied, and gently placed his own pale hands over Frigga's, hoping that neither Thor nor Frigga realised how much he was shaking.  
With a comforting smile, the queen gripped Loki's hands tight. She closed her eyes and frowned slightly as a soft green glow enveloped both of them. Loki whimpered quietly as he felt the energy draining from his body, being drawn out of him through Frigga. Thor looked on from his side of the bed. Magic had always confused him, and he wasn't entirely sure what was happening in front of him, but Loki looked uncomfortable and that was enough for him to disapprove. However, he understood that magic was a delicate thing and that he must not interrupt, no matter how upsetting it was for him to watch.

Thankfully it was over in a matter of minutes. Loki complained of feeling strangely woozy as Frigga stood from the bed and walked back towards the door to the room. She stopped before she crossed back over the threshold, and looked over to her two sons. "I shall not tell Odin of this. If he is to know, then you must be the ones to tell him." And without another word, she left the room, slipping through the door and easing it shut behind her, leaving the room in a less than comfortable quiet.

"Why did you tell her?"  
"Because I trust her. Besides, I thought I should teach you a lesson in being so carefree." The younger brother sighed. He brought up a hand to massage his forehead, hoping he could rub away the pain that Frigga had left him with.  
"Old habits will surely die hard." Thor smiled, "Will you ever stop being a trouble maker?" The blonde shifted himself to sit behind his brother, nuzzling into the crook of Loki's neck.  
"I doubt it." Loki sighed. He leant back into Thor's chest, bathing in the warmth that radiated from his brother. He hadn't felt this calm in a long while, and he wanted to savour the feeling for as long as he could, even if it did leave him with a slight discomfort somewhere deep down.  
Thor pulled Loki even closer, so the trickster was practically sitting on top of him, and wrapped his strong arms around his brother.  
"You do not regret what we did last night, do you brother?" He whispered.  
At that, Loki tensed, if only for a second. His brother's question shouldn't be so hard to answer. "Loki?"  
The younger of the pair shook his head with his most convincing smile. "Of course I don't regret it."  
Thor hummed contently and placed a gentle kiss on Loki's shoulder, before he sat back and slipped out from under the cover, to retrieve his clothes from the floor. He dressed himself quickly and in silence, with a content smile playing on his lips.  
"Now I must go to father. Hopefully I can explain away my failure to report to him yesterday. I will be back." With a wide smile in Loki's direction, he went to leave the room. Loki flashed the thunder god a weak smile as he left, then, when the door was firmly shut, he fell back onto the bed with a groan.

"What a mess." He sighed, talking to himself as he did every now and then. "You've well and truly done it this time, haven't you?" As he lay on the bed, he remembered the events of the previous night; he remembered how Thor had made him feel like he was the only person in the whole nine realms who mattered. It had been ecstasy. But then, he remembered how his happiness had passed so quickly afterwards. When they both settled and fell to sleep, the elation had passed as though it had never happened. It didn't feel how he thought it should have. The sense of being whole that he had felt dissipated into the dark, and then when he first woke up in the morning, he had forgotten that anything had ever happened. That wasn't right. It was as if the only satisfaction he had experienced was physical. Of course, Loki was no expert in relationships, and had next to no idea how they were supposed to work, and he wasn't sure whether what he was now involved in could even be called a relationship, but it all felt a little... Off.  
However, Loki put that down to the previous uneasy relationship that he had with Thor. That would put a strain on any situation. He sighed again, something he was beginning to do worryingly regularly. Then there was the matter of his magic. He had no idea how much of his power had been drained by his adoptive mother, but he already felt weaker than before. Odin had implied that he would still have some of his magic left, but that would probably restrict him to small, unconvincing illusions and floating sticks with his mind.

Loki didn't think that he had been thinking for more than a few minutes, but apparently half an hour had passed when his brother strode back into his room, with that stupid smile of his. "Good news, brother! Father is not mad at us!"  
"Not at you, perhaps." Loki muttered into the covers that pooled in his lap as he sat up. Thor flashed him look, warning him not to push it, then he smiled once more and threw himself onto the bed next to his brother, pulling the liesmith closer with an arm around his shoulder.  
"Although, I am afraid I have to leave for Earth." Loki froze. He would be thrown into the dungeons until Thor returned, and when his brother left for Midgard, one could never be sure how long he would spend there; Loki could be down in the cell for weeks on end. Slowly, he turned his head to look up at Thor, who was still beaming, as if he didn't understand the situation.  
"And how long do you intend to be gone?" He snapped, "How long do you expect me to wait in that cell for your return?" The mischievous god shoved himself away from Thor. He could feel the rage bubbling away deep down.  
"Do not worry yourself, brother!" He laughed, "I have convinced father to allow me to take you there with me. After all, you still have to apologise and make up for the damage you did to their city." Thor clapped Loki on the shoulder as he stood from the bed. "I shall leave you to get dressed." He bowed his head, and then went to wait outside, not wanting to risk irritating Loki any further.

Loki slid out from under the cover and quickly set about gathering his clothes from all four corners of the room and dressing himself. He was of course grateful that he didn't have to wait for his brother in the dungeons, but having to face Thor's precious Avengers didn't sound wholly appealing. He momentarily considered trying to escape. His magic may be weak, but with Thor out of the room, he could probably make it out of the castle grounds, at least. No. He mustn't do that. He could. But he decided against it. His brother had put his life on the line for him, saved him from the dungeons and given him a night of ecstasy. He owed it to the god of thunder to play along with his game for the time being, even if it did go against his very nature.

Five minutes later, the younger brother emerged from Thor's room. The blonde smiled on his brother's arrival. "Come now!" He laughed, slapping the thinner man hard on the back, which only frightened Loki, and put him more on edge than he already was.  
"Must you be so loud?" Loki hissed, following on after his brother as they made their way to meet Heimdall.  
Thor rolled his eyes. "You worry too much."  
"You don't worry enough."  
Loki's words brought an end to their conversation, and they continued to walk down the maze of corridors in silence. The only sound came when Thor managed to slip his hand over Loki's and lace their fingers together, causing Loki to let out a surprised gasp. He was about to yank his hand free when Thor gave him a reassuring squeeze, then gently rubbed his thumb across the pale skin on the back of the liesmith's hand. The simple gesture made Loki reconsider his actions, and he decided to stay quiet, allowing Thor to carry on stroking the back of his hand.

He ducked his head to try and hide the light blush that he could feel dusting across his cheeks. 

_**~X~X~X~X~X~X~**_

_**Ahh... That's better. I really did miss Loki. Anyway, I'm sorry that I've made you wait this long for anything interesting to happen, but next chapter things should get a little more interesting!**_

_**Loki meeting the Avengers after New York, anyone?**_


	4. On your terms

_**So, it's here! A chapter when things finally start to get moving! I'm sorry it's taken this long... To be fair, I don't expect anyone to actually read this... I'm kinda just venting through this at the moment...  
((Stronger language in this chapter, not that strong, but stronger...))**_

_**~X~X~X~X~X~X~  
**_

It was the morning after the night before.

Tony groaned, stretched and rolled over. God, he was not a morning person. If it was even still morning. He dared to crack open one eye and glance up at the small clock on his bedside table. He let out an even louder groan when he saw that it was, in fact, half past one in the afternoon. That meant that he had to get up and do something with his day before it slipped through his fingers completely.  
"You alright over there?"  
Tony jumped at the sound of someone else's voice, and sat bolt upright. He snapped his neck round to look at the space next to him in the bed, and he was surprised to see Steve Rogers sat cross legged next to him. He had a pair of trousers on, but his upper half remained bare, and Tony couldn't help but stare at Cap's toned chest. Then, he managed to peel his eyes away long enough to ask Rogers something important.  
"Cap. Have I missed breakfast?"  
Rogers smiled and shook his head. "I don't think that anyone is even up yet. You're safe."  
"Good." The word barley passed his lips before it faded out, making it nothing more than a faint noise in the quiet. "Uh... So... Last night... That was..." He rubbed his forehead wearily as he tried to force some kind of words out of his mouth. "Well, y'know... It was..."  
"Are you going to finish that sentence any time soon?"  
Tony had time before Cap's response to do a little bit of thinking. He hadn't expected Cap to stay around after last night, especially not this late into the morning. It made the engineer worry for a second. He hoped it didn't mean anything, but deep down in his chest he felt like there was something a little off. It was the feeling he sometimes got after having a lady friend over, when she would stick around after he dropped every hint he could without telling her straight up to fuck off or moving to another country.  
"I don't think so." The Captain smiled softly and stood from the bed, stretching his arms out as he scanned the floor for his shirt from the previous night. Tony tried not to, but he just couldn't keep his eyes from the lightly tanned skin of the Captain's back, and couldn't help but notice the light bruises and bite marks around the blonde's neck and shoulders.

Did he do that to Rogers last night? It had all become a weird kind of blur in Tony's mind. It always was when he got kind of desperate. He was just there for the satisfaction, so why would he remember anything specific? He had that mentality ever since Stark industries had taken off and chicks had been throwing themselves at him left right and center. It was too much trouble for him to even try and remember his every fling and affair. He knew that mentality wasn't healthy, but not much about him was, so he could live with it.  
"Anyway... I'm gonna go grab something to eat. You want anything?" Steve span around on his heel to face Tony again, having retrieved his shirt and slipped it on over his head. "You said something about breakfast."  
"Uh, I might go and grab a coffee in a bit." The engineer sighed, falling back onto the bed. "Thanks."  
Rogers chuckled softly to himself, leant down onto the bed and left a small kiss on Tony's head before he left. Stark watched on with tired eyes as Rogers slipped through the door and wandered down the hallway. Well, that was weird.

Once Tony could no longer hear the Captain's footsteps from down the hall, he dragged himself from under the covers and dressed himself. He was just pulling his shirt on over his head when the door to his room whirred open and Steve fell through. "You... You have to come into the common room, now!" And before Tony could even process what just happened, the patriot had vanished again.  
"What the... What?"

Stark stumbled into the common room, still trying to pull his left shoe on, cursing at his shoe. "When did this get so hard?" He muttered to the boot. Eventually he did manage to slip his foot into the shoe, and tie up the laces. When he finally looked up into the room, he was startled, to say the least.  
His fellow Avengers were stood around the middle of the room, gathered around Thor, who was stood in the center of the room, but he had his arm wrapped around the shoulders of a less welcome figure.

Loki.

Thor had brought his homicidal, psychotic brother back to the tower that he had all but destroyed not even a month earlier. Because that was clearly a good idea. When he entered, he found Clint in the middle of an outburst, having to be restrained by Tasha, who was clutching him tightly by his shoulders.  
"What the fuck is that son of a bitch doing in here?" He yelled, struggling against Tasha. Tony ran into the middle of the room upon seeing this, and juddered to a halt by Steve, who gave him a brief smile before turning back to the problem at hand.  
"Clint, you gotta calm down!" Tasha screamed. The others could see her grip slipping as Barton squirmed to free himself. Tony went to help her, wrapping his arms tight around the agent's waist and dragging him back a few feet. Steve came to help too, standing himself firmly between Hawkeye and the two gods.  
Nervously, Banner, who had been stood towards the outside of the room, ventured closer to Thor. "What are you doing here?" He whispered, keeping his eyes on Clint.  
"I have brought Loki here for him to apologise."

"Apologise? Sorry isn't going to cut it!" Barton exploded again, snapping himself free of the other's restraints. He marched across the room, shoving past Cap and taking Loki's neck in his right hand, walking him back until the god was pinned against a wall.  
"You think I want to be here?" Loki spat. He made no effort to break free; he knew that he was relatively safe while his brother was around.  
"I don't care if you want to or not, you're here and... You invaded my brain! I haven't been the same since!" Natasha and Tony shared a look. He certainly hadn't been the same; his current rage was a case in point. Clint brought his forehead in close to Loki's. "You played with my mind! Do you even know what you've done?"  
Loki winced. "Of course I know what I've done. And I am truly sorry," The words fell from his pale lips just as he had rehearsed them, "But as much as I want to, I cannot go back and change my actions. I can only make up for them." He took a breath as he felt Barton loosen his grip and relax slightly. "That is, of course, if you will allow me?"

Out of nowhere, a heavy hand fell onto Clint's shoulder. "You will let go of my brother now." Thor's voice was calm and level, but even so, Clint did not argue. He stepped back and let his hand fall to his side. He glared hard at the god of mischief, who gave a slow nod, then he span on his heel and left the room. Natasha soon followed, thinking that Barton shouldn't be alone just then. That left Banner, Stark and Rogers alone with the two gods. Thor helped his brother away from the wall with a gentle smile, then turned to address the three remaining avengers. Loki hid behind Thor's shoulder, leaning on him slightly.  
"You've genuinely convinced him to apologise?" the doctor asked, one eyebrow raised.  
"I have. And he is willing to make it up to you however you see fit."  
Steve's brow furrowed a little. "Seriously? You expect us to believe this?"  
"He won't go anywhere." Thor reassured. "And, he will do anything you ask of him to make up for your city. I understand that it isn't much, but it is at least a start?"

The three avengers nodded hesitantly. "So, we just have to decide what we want Reindeer Games to do for us right?" Stark smiled, liking the idea of making Loki his personal coffee maker.  
"It should be something which benefits us all." Steve sighed, as he noticed the look that was spreading across Tony's face.  
"Hey," Stark threw his hands up in mock surrender, "Me having coffee available to me 24/7 means me being more productive, and that means me being a much more valuable asset to this team. If that doesn't benefit all of us, I don't know what will."  
Steve rolled his eyes, shook his head and smiled. "Well, we should at least ask the others what they think, shouldn't we?"  
Bruce quietly cleared his throat before he interjected. "Is it really a good idea to ask Clint what he wants? Considering their... History?"  
"True." Steve agreed, "He'd just want Loki dead, or as good as."  
"Cool, so we leave birdbrain out of it." Both Bruce and Steve sent Tony a scolding look. He rolled his eyes with a smile and was about to slip in one last scathing remark when an outburst from the far side of the room stole everyone's attention.

Nobody had caught the start of whatever had happened, but from the looks of things, Loki had just slapped his brother around the face, hard, enough to send the thunder god reeling back a few paces. There were the start of what looked like tears in the trickster's eyes, but he sniffed hard, and they quickly disappeared. Loki span on his heel and half ran, half walked from the common area out onto the balcony. Everyone's eyes followed the god, watching as he leant against the railings and looking out to the city. Then, they all came back to look at each other, then at Thor, who was still trying to regain himself.  
Bruce saw this as a convenient opportunity to remove himself from the room, and slipped out before anyone even noticed he had moved.  
"And that was about...?" Tony raised an eyebrow at Thor. The god couldn't respond, partly from shock, partly because he knew that what had happened should really be kept a secret. He shook his head slowly, signalling for the others to keep themselves out of the situation.

It was just going to be one of those days. Tony thought to himself. "We'll just... Leave you two to it, huh?" Stark sighed, wandering slowly over to the kitchen, pouring a quick scotch and heading for the door. He glanced over at the two other men. His eyes met Steve's and he managed to telepathically convince the captain to follow him, to leave the brothers alone.  
Like a worried puppy, the blonde hurried out from the room and caught up with Tony, slipping into the elevator with Stark.  
"Do you have any idea what that was about?" Rogers asked, relaxing once the doors had slid shut and they were safely away from the two gods.  
"No idea, but those two aren't exactly the kinda of people to make sense. Not even sure they count as people." He took a quick swig from his glass, and leant back against the wall of the small box they were trapped in, until they reached the lab in the basement. "And Loki... He's in a league of his own, right?" Tony laughed at his own weak joke, and stared for a moment into the amber liquid in his glass. Then, he jerked his head up, feeling Roger's eyes drifting over his face.

Slowly, he turned to look Steve in the eyes, or, as well as he could with the clear foot height difference between them. "Can I help you?" He asked, flashing a smile across his thin lips. Steve smiled shyly, stepping closer, and arm snaking slowly around Stark's lower back. Tony tensed at the touch for a moment, but soon found himself relaxing into Steve's arm, almost against his will. He took another drink from his glass as an excuse to not have to speak.  
"So, you're going down to the lab?" The blonde whispered, gently pulling Tony closer.  
Stark was tempted to pull away, but the warmth radiating from the strong chest behind him stopped him.  
"Uh, yeah. I got... Stuff... Do..." His sentence trailed off into silence as he felt small circles being massaged into the small of his back. It felt so strange to him, but it was so good he had to literally bite his tongue to suppress an appreciative moan.  
"Wait, no... What?" Tony's thoughts spilled out from his mouth in one garbled sentence. He slid out from Steve's grasp and stood himself on the opposite side of the elevator. "What is this?" He gestured between the two of them. Steve just looked confused. His head twitched as he waited for an explanation.  
"Are we..." Tony searched his brain for the best words to use, but as tact wasn't really his thing at the best of times, so he let the first words he could think of fall from his mouth "What the fuck is going on between us? Right now?"

Steve frowned. "I... What are you asking?"  
Tony laughed. "Us. You. Me. We slept together. What is this now?" He didn't think he could spell it out any simpler for Steve. Thankfully, it looked like Cap was just about getting it, his crystal blue eyes lighting up a little with the realisation.  
"You mean are we in a relationship or not?" One eyebrow twitched with curiosity.  
"Well... Yeah." Tony's confidence dissipated almost instantly and he went strangely quiet. He looked up to Steve. "Are we?"  
Rogers shrugged. "Do you... want to be?" He swayed closer.  
"I don't know what I want! Do you even know me?" Tony laughed pitifully at himself. "I never know what I want! Especially with all this romance and shit! I live for one, maybe if I'm drunk enough, two night stands! How am I supposed to know?"

"Okay, okay." Steve gently set down his hands on Tony's shoulders, trying to bring the billionaire down from his near hysteria. "Right. How about this? We can go as slow or as fast as you want. It'll all be on you. You can do what you want."  
Tony chuckled softly. "No pressure."  
Steve rolled his eyes. "No, no pressure. I'll do what you want, okay." The Captain took a deep breath and prepared himself for what he was going to say. Tony noticed this and turned his full attention to the blonde. This had to be important.  
"Even if that just means us sleeping together. Like last night." Steve looked so sad, it almost made Tony feel for him. Almost.  
Stark took a moment to gather his thoughts. He looked up into Steve's eyes, and felt like he could melt. Which was weird, because emotions didn't happen to him. Not Tony Stark. No emotions. No. He took a breath to match the one Steve had taken seconds before.  
"Alright. Okay. Right. I can... I can do that." He sighed.

Steve stroked back Tony's hair from his face. "Better?" Tony didn't speak, but he didn't need to. Cap pulled him in tight, hugging the brunette close, stroking a strong hand down his back. Slowly, Stark's breathing steadied, and for the first time in his entire existence, he hugged back. 

_**~X~X~X~X~X~**_

_**So there's that... This chapter took longer than I thought it would... But hey~ You can kinda tell I've got a pattern going here, skipping between Thor and Loki and Steve and Tony, but I'll try and stop that, break it down slowly... Or something...**_


	5. Babysitter

_**Chapter five...? FIVE? And I've barely started yet! Anyway, thank you for all the feedback on this! I've got messages here and on DA about it, and it's made my week~ Thank you everyone! Also, constructive criticism is welcome, as ever~  
~X~X~X~X~X~X~  
**_

"Brother." Thor quietly announced his presence to Loki, who was looking out to the city over the edge of the balcony. He approached cautiously, carefully thinking out each step he took, until he was stood beside Loki. He crossed his arms and rested them against the glass panel that separated the two from the vast space in front of them. He dared to glance to his brother once, but he could almost feel Loki tense up under his gaze, so he cast his eyes out to the city.  
They shared a moment in the relative quiet, before Loki took a deep breath and spoke softly. "I am sorry that I lashed out at you. That was an overreaction on my part." He looked up to Thor with a faint smile playing on his thin lips. Thor saw this out of the corner of his eye and smiled, still staring out into New York. "But I still do not expect you to make such advances in public, especially in front of your precious Avengers."

Thor winced. He hadn't expected his younger brother to react so badly to a comforting hug after his confrontation with Hawkeye. He certainly hadn't expected to be slapped around the face, but it could have been worse; the city was still standing, after all.  
"I am still not used to being shown such affection, in view of others or in private."  
Thor sighed, and dared to edge slightly closer to Loki. "I understand, brother. I shall not attempt anything like that again, without your consent."  
Loki relaxed slightly at that, and couldn't help but fall onto Thor's shoulder. Thor would have wrapped a strong arm around Loki, but after what he just said, he left his hand by his side.  
"I would appreciate that. Thank you." The words felt foreign to Loki. He hadn't had to thank anyone for anything in such a long time, especially his brother. It was surreal, almost. But, Loki thought, the past twenty four hours had hardly been normal; he had fallen in love with his brother.

Love.

Was this love he was experiencing? Truly?

Before he could dwell for long on the thought, Clint appeared out of nowhere like the ninja he was and tapped Thor on the shoulder. "C'mon, big guy. I hate to ruin the broment thing you got going on, but we got trouble." Clint didn't once look at Loki, simply kept his eyes glued to Thor's. Loki himself kept his gaze firmly on Clint. He didn't want to star in a repeat performance of earlier, especially out here, where there were no walls to keep him safe, so he watched every facial twitch and breath the archer made. Apparently, he wasn't aware as to what he had walked in on. 'Typical mortal' Loki thought to himself.  
He wasn't listening completely to what the man was saying, but he caught something about Doombots. Apparently it was an almost regular occurrence around the city, but it was still enough to scramble the Avengers into action.  
"Wait." Hawkeye stopped and turned to look at Loki. The god flinched under the man's gaze, but looked him in the eyes none the less. "What are we gonna do with him?"  
Natasha appeared on the balcony behind the three men, slipping a small pistol into a holster on her hip. "If we take him into the streets, he'll just run again, or cause more trouble."  
The trickster sent agent Romanoff a threatening glare, but she seemed to shrug it off.  
"My brother has changed." Thor jumped to Loki's defence. "He would not do such-"  
"Whether he's changed or not, we can't risk it. He's gotta stay here." Clint growled.  
"You would leave me in Stark's beloved tower on my own?" Loki smirked.

"Actually, I'm on babysitting duty. You guys go clean up the city." Everyone turned around to see Tony emerge in the large glass doorway at the end of the balcony, leaning against it. Steve soon appeared behind him, all suited up and ready to go.  
"You aren't coming with us?" Natasha's eyebrow arched in surprise. "We could really use your suit out there." She made her point by pointing out a billowing cloud of dark smoke that was rising slowly from the base of a nearby office building.  
"You'll live, red." Tony smiled. "I've been grounded by Fury until further notice, so, may as well keep an eye on princess over there." He nodded towards the black haired god, who sneered at the implications of Tony's remark. "Go on. Off you go." He nodded towards the city. Everyone shared looks of concern with one another. "Go on, get!" He was still joking around, but Tony was beginning to sound a little angry. There was a slight hesitation before the gang ran off in all different directions; Hawkeye threw himself over the ledge, hopefully landing on a building below, Natasha running back into the tower to retrieve Dr Banner on her way out and Thor flying directly off the balcony, but not before giving his brother a reassuring look and a soft smile.

Steve tapped Tony lightly on the shoulder. "Are you sure you want to stay here with him?"  
"I don't want to; I don't have a choice. Besides, I'll be fine!" Tony clapped down a hand on the blonde's shoulder, with a lopsided grin for extra charm. "I have the home field advantage."  
Steve laughed quietly to himself, shaking his head. "Just... Don't get thrown through any windows this time, huh?" He pulled the billionaire in for a tight hug before running off after Natasha. Tony stared after him with a faint smile on his lips. It was nice for someone to actually have faith in him for once.

And so, the balcony was deserted, save for a lone god. Until Tony sauntered out onto the balcony and stood beside him, leaning on the balcony. Loki kept an eye on him, and was surprised to see how comfortable the man of iron was. He wasn't tense, or lying, or even watching Loki. The god noted this, before he proceeded to investigate what exactly was going on. He didn't move from his spot, he didn't even shift his weight as he spoke.  
"Do you wish to get even with me? Perhaps throw me back through the window? Or off the tower, perhaps?"  
Tony laughed to himself. "As fun as that sounds, I'm just here to make sure you don't blow up the city, or, more importantly, my tower." Loki's eyebrow twitched in confusion.  
"So you do not seek revenge?"  
"Uh, sometimes. If I'm in a bad mood, I imagine your face on the target I use when testing out new weapons. But, I wouldn't chuck you from my tower." He stared over at Loki with a smirk. "Bad press."  
Although Loki was not wholly familiar with the idea of press and publicity, he still found amusement in Tony's wide array of facial expressions. In the one sentence, he had appeared angry, content, sarcastic, pleased, and even cheeky. It was fascinating for Loki to watch. 

"So, Stark, what exactly did you do to the great Director Fury to deserve being under house arrest?"  
"Oh, you're interested in that?"  
"Are you familiar with 'small talk', Anthony?" Tony chuckled. He nodded, but he knew there was nothing better to be doing.  
"I may or may not have played a prank on Nick." Of course, Loki's attention peaked at the mention of a prank. He settled his gaze on Tony and waited from the man to continue. "I was in a bad mood because someone had drunk all the coffee. That stuff it like blood for me, y'know? So I was a little... Cranky. Nick came around to talk to me about God knows what. I was in the lab downstairs, so he came looking for me. And he may have walked into a booby trap I left for him."

Loki couldn't help the smile that found its way onto his pale features. The very thought of SHEILD's mighty director falling into any kind of trap was entertaining enough. "There was custard, and feathers and... Possibly glitter."

And that's where he lost it. Loki was bent over double, in near hysterics. He could just see Nick Fury stood there fuming under layers of mushy yellow liquid, brightly coloured feathers and tonnes of small sparkling flakes of plastic.  
The sudden explosion made Tony jump backwards a little. "Whoa, you alright there?"  
Loki took a moment to recover himself, and drew himself back up to his full height. He knew that however hard he tried, he wouldn't be able to restore the mask of icy calm he usually wore, but he instantly wiped the smile from his face.  
"So, he's pretty pissed at me," Tony smiled, glad he could make Loki laugh. It was an achievement worthy of a medal as far as he was concerned. "And he won't let me leave the tower for a while."  
"You are a brave man to do such a thing to the Director."  
"Huh. Most people would have gone with stupid. Thanks."  
"You are stupid, too." Loki smiled. The smile dropped from Tony's face for a second, in mock offence.  
"Don't mock me so much, or I will toss you over the balcony, kay?" Tony snickered, turned on his heel and headed inside. Loki stared after him for a moment, trying to figure out whether Tony would genuinely dare to throw him from the tower. He soon decided he didn't necessarily want to know, and followed the mortal into the common room.

"Take a seat, perch yourself wherever." Tony called over his shoulder as he fixed himself a drink behind the bar. Loki looked around the room. All he could see, wherever he looked, was destruction. As he wandered further into the room, he found the exact part of the floor where he had been pummelled into submission by a certain mindless green beast.  
"And you're not going to... Threaten me, this time?" The god asked, still slightly on edge without his brother's protection.  
"Nope. Go ahead, sit your ass down." Stark gestured to the seats arranged around the coffee table at the far end of the room, with a glass of scotch in his hand.  
Loki didn't really want to sit down, but he mustered up the courage to perch on the edge of an armchair. He listened intently to the clinking glass sounds coming from the bar, before his thoughts took over.  
He was simply exhausted. It had been a tense day. And he was still confused as to where he stood with his brother. It was obvious that Thor liked him, but he was still trying to figure out if he felt the same in return. Love was quiet a rare creature as far as he was concerned. The closest he had ever come to loving anyone was his mother, and that experience was in no way applicable here.  
"Hey, Reindeer Games." Stark's voice and sudden appearance on the sofa across from him brought Loki from his thoughts. He looked up and straight into sparkling amber eyes. Stark let out a breath and collapsed back into the plush leather seat. "Just checking you're still in there. You... went away."  
"My apologies." Loki sighed. He allowed his face fell into his hands.

The engineer's head fell to one side and he leant forward again in his seat. "You alright? You look... Well, if I'm honest, you look like shit." He chuckled. But, his laughter faded quickly when he realised the sad look the god was giving him, the kind of look that told him Loki felt just how he looked. The pair shared a moment of understanding. Tony slowly nodded to himself.

"Right." He sighed. "I'm not gonna pry, because I know that it could get me glared to death, but, if you wanna vent at me... I'm here." Tony wasn't entirely sure what he was doing, if he was honest. It couldn't be the alcohol, because he had barely had a sip of it yet. It was just something in him that was telling him Loki was having a rough time of it. Perhaps in a similar way he was.  
'The last time I went on a gut feeling I wound up in bed with Steve.' He thought to himself. Quietly. He wasn't sure if Loki could do any mind reading, but he didn't want to risk it.  
"I do not wish to talk about it." Loki huffed, relaxing back into his chair in an attempt to appear calm and in control.  
Stark pursed his lips in thought. What could leave a God so rough? Apart from Hulk.

And so the two men sat in silence; Loki stared at a spot on his boot, apparently fascinated by it all of a sudden, while Tony kept one eye on his scotch, and the other on Loki.

It really was going to be one of those days.

"It should have been glue." Loki sighed, out of nowhere. Stark looked up, surprised by the seemingly random statement. Surprised at least until he remembered Loki was crazy.  
"What do you mean?"  
"Instead of custard." Loki continued, his face the picture of innocence. "It should have been glue."  
Stark couldn't fight the smile he felt.  
"Of course!"

_**~X~X~X~X~X~X~**_

_**So, I have it in my head that Doctor Doom pulls an invasion on New York every other week. I personally blame all my personal troubles on Doom... And badgers... They're EVIL I tell you! So there you go.**_

_**See you all next chapter~**_


	6. Falling, fallen

"Why are you here?" Tony asked, breaking the silence that had fallen over the room after their brief laughter. He was staring intently at the ice in his squat little glass as it melted from the heat of his hand, but Loki looked to his eyes all the same. "You're a smart guy," Tony continued, "and you may be bat shit crazy, but you wouldn't come back here without a reason. Or unless you knew you couldn't be hurt."  
The billionaire looked up from his drink and met the god's eyes. There was no malice in what he was saying. He had no hidden agenda that Loki could see, no plan, no tricks. He was, apparently, just making conversation, or asking for the sake of his own curiosity. Either way, Loki knew that he was in no immediate danger. He let his shoulders drop a little, and, with a small sigh, he replied.

"I am here under the Allfather's orders, to repay for what I did to your city. I believe my brother told you as much." There was no harm in being cautious; he simply wanted to see exactly what this mortal's angle was.  
Tony rolled his eyes, and set his glass down on the table in front of him. "Yeah, sure. That may work for the others, but you're talking to me here. I'm a near professional liar. Spill it, princess."  
Loki felt his lips curl downwards at the name, but he wasn't about to go throwing Stark out of the window again. That would be a bad move if ever there was one. He controlled the quiet rage that he could feel bubbling away deep down in his gut, and put on a cool, collected smile.  
"What makes you so sure that you can read the intentions of a god?" He asked. He kept his voice level, even when he saw that infuriating grin which spread across Stark's lips.  
"I just can." He smiled. "So, why are you here, since you sure as hell aren't here to make friends with anyone?"  
With a deep breath, Loki replied.  
"Thor." It came out as more of a mutter than the god had intended, and he cursed himself internally for sounding so weak. Luckily, though, Stark didn't seem to notice. He looked more confused than he had done, his head falling to one side. He turned around on the sofa to face the god.  
"You mean your brother? The brother that you hate so much you jumped off the magical rainbow bridge and stole his glowy box?"  
"You have heard of what happened on the Bifrost?"  
Tony nodded, "Thor had to explain it all before we went out to get the Tesseract back from you."  
Loki shouldn't have been surprised. Of course it was Thor that had told them. The man had no sense of what was a family matter and what was not.

"So, why are you here for Goldilocks? You hate him." Tony set the conversation back on track, still mightily confused.  
"He asked politely." Loki smirked. He didn't really want to admit to the mortal why he had come along. For a start that would involve admitting to himself what had happened over the past two days, and it was also because he wasn't entirely sure why he had agreed to return to Midgard.  
The look he got from Stark in return for his noncompliance was enough to kill him at ten paces. Tony rolled his eyes, and edged further up the sofa.  
"Really? All it took was a please and a thank you to get you to come here? Can't see that. I just wanna know why you're letting Blondie drag you around all of a sudden."  
Loki was getting backed into a corner here. He could tell that Tony wasn't trying to be mean or threatening, and he could easily deny all attempts to draw the truth from him, but there was a part of his brain that was panicking, still crowded with new and confusing emotions. He fought with all his might not to blurt out everything to the human sat in front of him. The man who had the confidence, or maybe the stupidity, to face off to a god. And live.  
Instead, he decided to keep it to himself. That's what he did; he bottled things up until it drove him to, well, genocide.  
"This is none of your business, Stark. I can't see how my personal affairs are any concern of yours."  
Tony slumped back into the sofa, defeated. "I'm just saying, there's something up with you and him. You hid behind him earlier, then you shouted at him, then you were talking quietly with him out there." He gestured weakly over his head to the balcony. "I can't say I know you guys all that well, but it doesn't seem right if you ask me."  
"Well, I didn't." Loki huffed. "What about you and the solider?" He asked. His tone was softer now, not that he noticed.  
"What?"  
"You and the Captain. You seemed awfully close earlier, what with your hugs and meaningful glances."  
Tony froze, and in the split second it took the man to compose himself, Loki could see that he had struck a nerve. He smiled to himself.  
"Dunno what you mean." Tony shrugged. He tried to distract himself, reaching out to take the glass from the table and taking a generous swig. He hadn't in a million years expected the God of Mischief to take an interest in his 'relationship' with Rogers.

Loki, ever the expert in lies, smirked wider. "I believe you do." He purred. He had potentially just found a way to make his stay in the tower so much more interesting. He could almost see the mortal in front of him begin to squirm, and he liked it. This was the man that no longer than a month ago had been on an intellectual par with a god, but now he was worried. Over the past few days, Loki had been ignoring the part of his mind that helped him in his mischief making, seeing as he had been preoccupied with other things, but now that part was just waking up again, and it was still on top form.  
Loki continued. "I saw you embrace earlier. You must be involved, somehow, and yet now you refuse to discuss the matter? That seems highly irregular."  
"So what? I don't wanna brag about my god damn boyfriend? What's it to you?"  
Loki frowned. "So you are romantically involved?"  
Tony grunted what the god could only assume to be an affirmative.  
"Then why do you seem so uncomfortable?"

Tony slammed his now empty glass back down onto the low table and glared hard at the raven haired god. "Since when are you such an expert in human relationships, huh?"  
"I spent a long while wandering after I fell to Midgard from the abyss. I observed you strange creatures. I learnt."  
Tony seemed to calm himself, a surprising change of mood to say the least. "The abyss. Yeah. I get that." His voice was little more than a whisper, and the words only just managed to reach Loki's ears. He hesitated. For a moment, he couldn't read the expression on Stark's face, and then he realised that it was made up of such a confusing mess of emotions. But one of those feelings stood out to the god. Sadness. It was right there at the front. It wasn't the kind of sadness that you would get from losing a pet fish, or from your preferred team losing a game in whichever sport.

This was the sadness of a man that knew he was empty.

And then Loki realised something. The Man of Iron had fallen, just as he had, when he had destroyed the Chitauri, and saved the planet. He had felt space. He had tasted the darkness. He had been both alive and dead in the very same instant. And it had left him hollow.  
For the first time in a very long while, Loki felt a pang of sadness in his own heart, a strange sense of knowing, relation.  
He fell back into the chair, no longer sure whether he should have taken such enjoyment from the mortal's discomfort. He knew exactly how Tony must have been feeling. He knew all too well.  
The room had fallen into silence, and when Loki looked up again, he realised that Tony had been staring at him. He looked straight into those endless hazel eyes, which he could see now where swimming with sorrow, hidden behind a smile.  
"I am sorry." He whispered.  
Tony twitched an eyebrow in confusion. "What now?"  
"I am sorry that you fell." Tony was seriously taken aback. There was the mighty God of Lies, looking about ready to burst into tears as he apologised to him. That just wasn't right.

Tony wasn't sure what to make of it. Of course, ultimately Loki was the one to blame for the missile incident, but somehow he felt like the God wasn't at fault. The Powers That be, the people who were above even the Director, had launched the god damned thing. Even a God couldn't have seen that coming. Even then, he was willing to decimate half a city to get his way, so why was he so upset about the misfortune of one man who had survived, unlike so many others. Why was he sorry?  
"You won't apologise for destroying an entire city and killing hundreds of innocent people just because you have some weird, unresolved daddy issues, but you're saying sorry… To me? Even by your 'bag-o-cats' level of crazy that doesn't make sense."  
Apparently making sense wasn't something Loki wanted to do much of that day. He sprung up from his chair and glared down at Tony, any trace of the tears that were present not seconds before completely gone.

"I'm apologizing because I know exactly how you feel!" He spat, beginning to pace irritably. "You know that I fell from the Bifrost, and that was no different to you falling through space from another dimension! I know that being confronted with such darkness and emptiness changes you, somewhere deep inside, in ways that no other person could ever hope to understand! You see the vastness of the void that surrounds you at every moment and it terrifies you, down to the core, and it will never go away! You can never hope to ignore it. It will be there, surrounding you, encroaching in on you until one day it will swallow you whole." Loki paused, looking mournfully down at the floor. "And nobody can ever understand that. They don't know. They will never know." His final words were nothing more than a whisper. There was a moment of painful silence, before the god dared to look up again. He snapped his head to look at Tony, a fierce snarl on his face.  
Then, he saw Tony, and his expression softened.

The billionaire was looking up to the god from his seat on the sofa with a soft expression, the likes of which Loki was unfamiliar with. It looked like… Sympathy? It left the god confused. He watched on in silence as Stark slowly rose from his seat and approached him. In a whisper, the mortal spoke.  
"You're right. Nobody could ever understand. Unless they've been through it too." Slowly, Tony reached out and wrapped his arms tight around the God's waist. He hadn't realised before just how tall Loki was. He could feel the god panic under the endless layers of metal and leather, his whole body tensing, but it was for his own good. And Tony just really needed a hug. "I get what happened to you. Like you said, right? So, I'm sorry, too. I know it sucks." He rested his head on the Asgardian's chest, and he could hear the man's heart beat slowly steadying itself back down to normal. After a minute or so, Tony peeled himself away from the god and looked up to Loki with a soft, sympathetic smile, something that he wasn't even aware he could pull off. It had been a brave move, and he wasn't sure whether or not it could end with him being thrown from his own tower again, but he felt like Loki just needed someone to be on the same page as him. Lord knows that's all he had ever wanted himself. 

Loki looked confused for a single second more before he rediscovered his composure and drew himself back up to his full height. He took a single deep breath and huffed. "You are strange, even for a mortal, Anthony Stark." He could feel the smirk playing on his lips.  
"It's Tony." The man sighed, running a hand through his hair. "And, yeah, nobody has ever really described me as normal, or if they have, I'm sure they regret it."  
Loki chuckled to himself as he watched the man saunter back over to the table and flop down into the plush leather sofa once more.

He really was strange. It was a comfortable strange though, and now the two of them understood one another. There was a satisfying air of understanding between them.

_**~X~X~X~X~X~X~**_

_**Accidental hiatus… whoops.**_

Sorry, I didn't mean to be away from the story for so long, especially after I had been making all that progress on it. But, here we are, all back together again.  
I hope you enjoyed this latest offering, and I do actually have a plan for this story, happy times~


	7. They will never know

When the Avengers returned from their outing in the city an hour or so later, they were surprised to find the tower still standing, all windows intact. They all made their way tiredly up to the common floor, which was somewhere near the top, just under the floor that Tony had claimed for himself.  
They entered the common room and stood stock still when they saw Tony and Loki, both sat cross legged on the floor, drawing diagrams on scraps of paper and old pizza boxes. Loki was drawing on one piece of yellow paper and Tony was watching on intently, never once taking his eyes from the page as Loki explained what it was he had drawn.  
"-And this is Vanahiem." Loki pointed to one of the circles on the paper as he set it down on the floor for Tony to see.  
"And, wait… What?" The mortal went to look up to Loki, but couldn't peel his eyes from the diagram on the floor.  
"_And_, these are all connected by Yggdrasil."  
"That's the magical tree thing?"  
Loki rolled his eyes and sighed. "Yes, the magical tree thing."

"Are we interrupting something here?" Clint piped up, making both the men on the floor jump a little in surprise. Clint and Thor both wandered over. There was a happy grin on Thor's godly features as he knelt down beside his brother.  
"You are sharing the secrets of our universe with Anthony?"  
"I was." Loki huffed. He had been genuinely enjoying himself, but now that Thor and the other Avengers had returned, he would have to go back to keeping up appearances. Although, he couldn't help but let himself lean into Thor a little. He was glad to have his brother back, if only for protection, another ally in case that Agent Barton decided to try and finish what he had started earlier.  
"That is good news, but I am afraid we must return home to Asgard now. I have served my purpose here, and we must not return until my friends have consulted with Director Fury, and I with father."  
Loki sighed, and then stood himself up as his brother did the same. Tony stayed sat down, rummaging through all of the things Loki had drawn for him and collecting them all in a pile together. He didn't even notice when Steve came and stood near to where he was sat.

Thor said his goodbyes to everyone, while Loki and Tony shared a meaningful look before they walked out onto the balcony and were engulfed in the glaring golden energy that took them back up into the heavens.

Once they were gone and the hum of energy had died down, everyone turned to Tony, who was now stood up beside Steve, clinging the papers to his chest.  
"What?" He whined.  
"I know you said you were on baby-sitting duty, but I didn't think you'd resort to colouring in." Steve sighed, glancing down at the pictures Tony was holding. He could only make out a few of them and there were notes scribbled around the edges in small, elegant handwriting. Maybe Stark would let him take a look later?  
"Yeah, what were you doing?" Bruce asked, peeping out from where he was stood behind Natasha, He was still fully clothed, which must mean that it had gone well, with him not having to Hulk Out. Either that or it had all gone terribly and they were all about to be vaporised.  
"We just started talking about space and stuff, and then I got him to explain how the Nine Realms work, in relation to Earth and our universe. You might be interested, actually, Banner." He gestured with an elbow at his fellow scientist, his hands being too full to point. "Besides, I did my job, I kept the nutty god quiet. I hope you guys all did your jobs all right?" Smooth change of subject, as ever.

"The city is safe. It wasn't as much of a slog as we had thought it would be." Natasha sighed, perching herself on the arm of the chair where Loki had sat. "Doom's with SHIELD now. We can breathe easy for a while."  
"Good. Great job guys. Awesome." Tony's words trailed off as he nudged his way through the small crowd of people and out of the room. Steve waited for a second, and then followed after, knowing full well that Tony would be headed down to his lab.

Loki felt woozy after a journey on the Bifrost. He had never gotten used to it, just got better at controlling the urge to vomit that it always left him with. Thor didn't seem to have the same problem; he was all but running down the bridge back to the city. It figured, in Loki's mind, because battle always left Thor… Heated. Usually he was quite good at supressing these urges, but apparently now that he knew he had a bed partner, he didn't feel the need to do so. Loki was feeling a little uncomfortable himself, besides the general uneasiness; he had urges of his own, though where they had come from, he did not know.  
He thought about it as he hurriedly followed after his bother. He soon realised that they were headed for his chamber. That made sense. Loki's room was closest to the entrance of the palace, and there was the added security that nobody ever really dared to venture near his chamber. And if they did, they never returned to try again.  
Thor ushered his brother into the room and leant against the door as he shut it quickly. His face was flush and the innocent sparkle had vanished from his eyes. "Brother," he sighed, thudding his head against the wood of the door behind him, "I know I said that I would not touch you without your permission, but-"

Before he could finish, Loki appeared seemingly out of nowhere to stand in front of him. He leant up on his tip toes, and bumped their foreheads together.  
"Perhaps you should stop calling me 'brother'?" He breathed, as he lazily brushed his lips over Thor's. Thor himself wasn't sure what to think. After the outburst in the tower earlier, he had not expected the younger man to be so… willing.  
However, he wasn't about to complain as Loki grabbed the collar of Thor's shirt in pale hands and dragged him over to the bed, swinging him round and perching himself on the God of Thunder's lap. He looked down at the blonde with hungry emerald eyes, and crashed their lips together into a kiss full of need.

He barely had to touch his brother before the god was panting and moaning and writhing beneath him. All he had done was sit there in Thor's lap, whispering his lies into the thunderer's ears and grind his hips down every now and then, and Thor was already moaning Loki's name, breathlessly. A dark smile spread across his thin lips, which he quickly hid by nuzzling into Thor's broad shoulder. He wanted satisfaction. And Loki always got what he wanted.

Tony was industriously working away and some new modifications to his suit. He hadn't noticed before just how beat up the thing had gotten, so it was time to repair and revamp the mark seven. He had set the pile of Loki's pictures down on a work bench on the far side of the room for later inspection, and so they didn't get messed up while he was working. He was going well, not getting distracted or anything.

Until Steve appeared with coffee.

Everything ground to a halt as he smelt the warm, bitter aroma float down the stairs. He had figured Steve was coming before he appeared at the door in front of him. The blonde smiled happily and waited for Tony to open the door for him. He would really have to get Steve his own passcode one of these days. But that could wait. He opened the door for the solider and welcomed him, then snatched the coffee cup from Steve's hand, and downed it all in one go, ignoring the dull burning on the roof of his mouth that it left him with.  
"Y'know, you could replace Pep."  
Steve shook his head with a smile, "I doubt she would take too kindly to that."  
"Doesn't matter. That coffee was great. And, I can sleep with you. You're a proper assistant."  
Steve tapped the billionaire's knuckles lightly and frowned. "You really are something. She's been through too much with you to even think of quitting now."  
"I thought after all she's been through with me, she'd have retired by now. Dog years, remember?"  
Steve laughed softly. He let his arms wrap themselves around Tony's waist, and he smiled softly when he felt the shorter man relax back into his chest. They stood there for a minute, before Tony wriggled out from Cap's arms and wandered back over to the workbench. He shut off the screens that surrounded the work area and turned the soldering iron off. He turned and stood by the desk, looking the captain over thoughtfully. He watched as Steve looked through the small pile of drawings.  
"What are all these?" Steve muttered as he shuffled through the papers, his brow knotted in curiosity.

Tony hopped across the room and picked up a piece of paper, tilting his head to look at it. "They're diagrams. They show how our universe and their universe all exist together. There's one in there that shows how they're able to travel between the two. Hang on." Tony put his drawing down and threw himself into the pile of papers, looking for the one picture he was talking about. Steve frowned.  
"Since when were you two so chummy, anyway? I thought one of you would have been dead when we got back."  
Tony put on a posh motherly voice. "You know, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, Steven. And don't sound so disappointed!"  
"I'm not judging Loki by any cover. I think the battle of New York speaks for itself."  
Tony span around quickly from the drawings and glared hard at Steve, before he caught himself, and forced his expression down into something a little more compassionate.  
"Yeah, okay, good point. I guess he was just… being civil? I think it was easier for both of us to just play happy family for a bit. And you know Thor would have smacked me into next year if I touched his precious brother." He offered a happy grin to the solider, who mulled it all over in his mind for a minute, before nodding slowly. He knew that the two brothers were close, just not in the way that Tony knew about.  
"Alright. I prefer you in one piece anyway, and he's gone now. I suppose it all worked out."  
"It did work out." Tony echoed. His mind was whirring away inside his head while he spoke. Was Steve getting… Jealous? Of Loki? What? Why would he be jealous? All they had done was talk for a bit and discuss space. What was there to be jealous of? Steve didn't come across as the competitive type, anyway. "So you can stand down, solider boy." Tony shook his head to rid himself of those confusing ideas and pushed himself close to Steve, resting his head on the Captain's strong chest, listening intently to the steady thumping of his heart.

"Sorry." Steve muttered into Tony's hair. Tony mumbled something in return, but Steve could hardly make it out, and Tony wasn't even sure what he had tried to say. His mind was elsewhere. He was thinking about the god that had just shown him the secrets of space. Although Tony had experienced more than enough of space to last him a lifetime, he was still interested. Well, maybe not in the science of it all. Although that was a veritable treasure trove of information for him to sift through if he ever got the time, no. He was thinking about Loki himself. It was strange, although he hadn't noticed it at the time, Tony realised that the god lit up and seemed to genuinely relax.

There was no cool, calm, 'I'm better than everyone, so fuck you all' persona around him. Tony could hardly believe that this was the same guy who had tried to throw him to his death not so long ago. He had taken almost childish delight in explaining Yggdrasil and the Nine Realms, all that stuff. It would have been sweet, if there wasn't the threat in the back of the billionaire's mind that reminded him Loki was a maniac on a good day.  
And then there was the split second where Loki had made sense.

"...Nobody can ever understand that. They don't know. They will never know..."

"Tony? Tony? You in there?" The gentle whisper of Steve's voice brought Tony from his thoughts, and he looked up straight into the endless blue of the super soldier's eyes, and his thoughts of the god quickly dissipated. But when he looked into the crystal pools of innocence, Loki's words echoed loud and clear through his mind. He felt his heart sink for a moment. Damn. Smile, Tony, smile.  
"Yes, dear?"

Loki rolled over onto his side, putting his back to Thor as the god of thunder snored lightly. He sighed and buried himself further under the blankets and furs that covered them both, yanking them up to under his nose. He was thinking, something that was becoming like a bad habit for him. He hadn't once listened to his brain in the past few days, except from maybe when he was explaining the secrets of their universe to that Stark man. Anthony. The Man of Iron.

That mortal had dragged Loki out from the pit of confusing, conflicting emotions that he had been drowning in over the past few days, and had allowed him to all but forget about them. There was that one rather heated exchange about falling from other dimensions, but aside from that, Anthony had been a compelling conversational partner. And, even more interestingly, he had been able to understand, as much as a mortal could, the ideas that Loki was trying to teach him, and he asked questions, _interesting_ questions. That type of discussion Loki only ever experienced with his mother. She was an equally passionate woman, and the pair had wasted away countless afternoons exchanging ideas about spells and magic.

So Anthony wasn't like the rest of the dull mortals that he had the misfortune of having to associate himself with. He was smart. He had heard Thor boasting of his friend Anthony Stark and his genius intellect, but he hadn't realised that it had all been true. Loki also found himself appreciating the man's body. Not that he was particularly attractive in any way, but he was interesting to look at.

He had scars. Not the obvious hole in his chest, but smaller things; nicks and cuts all over, the kind of marks one gets when working with machines and heavy tools. All over him, there were signs that he was alive. Asgardians never seemed to sport such marks. The only scars they ever seemed to have were massive, and had a specific story to accompany it; some tall tale of how they came this close to death, yet chose to sacrifice whichever part of their body in the struggle for their glorious victory. Loki had always hated these tales.

If you've heard one, you've heard them all as far as he was concerned.

_**X~X~X~X~X~X~X**_

_**Just... So you all know, I have up to sixteen chapters planned so far for this little fic. Not so little anymore... See you all later~**_


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